Surratt House Today

[L Verge]

I might add also that, on her first day of soloing, Susan was faced with one of our Booth tours, which meant being on duty by 9:30 am (she lives over an hour away) and dealing with a group of at least 20-25 people (half of the group). Just guiding that many through the relatively small house and keeping them together as a group is a great accomplishment. I never have any fears about Susan's knowledge of the history (as author of the excellent historical novel, Hanging Mary - and the amazing contributor to the forum).

On the other hand, this was probably Rick's 100+ time to give a Booth tour. He was the perfect person to pair with Susan on her first day. He has literally "been there-done that" for about twenty years now. Ed Bearss, the retired chief historian for the National Park Service, brings several tours a year through the museum, and if Rick is not on duty, Ed always asks where he is and how he is doing.

We are blessed to have so many caring and knowledgeable volunteers serving at Surratt House. And, I include Bill Binzel in the crew also. He is already a hit and helped us during the conference as well as starting training to be the point man (some call us the potty patrol) on our Booth tours. He'll share some history at various stops, wrangle the kittens ontp the bus, etc. This relieves the pressure on my staff members, who have done this for years (and we have conducted the tours as many as 22 times in one year - the average being about ten a year).